Kjoepie!: A Concept to Trigger and Reward Children with Hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy

Kjoepie!: A Concept to Trigger and Reward Children with Hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy

Paulissen, R.T.

Sonneveld, M.H. (mentor)
Molenbroek, J.F. (mentor)
Aarts, P.M. (mentor)

Industrial Design Engineering

Industrial Design

Design for Interaction

2011-03-14

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a physical disorder that affects the development of movement and posture, causing activity limitations. It is the most common physical disability in childhood with an incidence of 2-2,5 per 1000 live born children in the Western world. The Sint Maartenskliniek, department Toddler Rehabilitation, in Nijmegen, offers an intervention therapy to children of 2,5 to 8 years old that, due to brain damage (CP) at a young age, are inflicted with a less functional arm (hemiparesis). The children do not naturally use their affected arm in their daily activities, which counteracts the development of the arm and can even increase their disability. The aim of the graduation project was to design a product for the home context that stimulates children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy to incorporate and use their affected hand in daily activities and play. Over time it should become more natural for the children to use both of their hands in their activities. The design approach had an exploratory character as it has not yet been researched how products in the target area would be received by the children and parents. Children, their parents and their therapists were closely involved throughout the project. Besides literature research, observations and interviews, the daily life of the children was mapped by means of a contextual study. It is found that the children do not associate home with the use of the affected hand, like they do in therapy. Such an association should be brought to the home-context. Furthermore the children need external input as a reminder. But to break learned-non-use it is also important to motivate the children and raise awareness. This awareness could also help to build a positive self-image. The insights gained in the exploration phase were used as input to formulate a design vision and as inspiration throughout the rest of the project. It was chosen to design a concept that stimulates conscious competence and to follow a behavioral change approach. According to this approach the concept should consist of a behavior trigger and a motivator. The behavior trigger was characterized as an activating trigger. This trigger should attract the attention of the children and bring the message to act now! The motivator was characterized as reflective reward. The motivator should be fun and meaningful. It should persuade the children into action, but also make them aware of it. Overall it should offer the children an achievable challenge to empower them to feel confident and proud while feeling in control. Several concept directions were evaluated and prototypes were tested in a controlled setting and home-context, finally leading to the proposal for the concept ‘Kjoepie!’. ‘Kjoepie!’ is a package of products that together elicit the use of the affected hand at home. It consists of a tactile cue (vibration bracelet and portable sensors), a visual cue (activity pictograms) and a reflective reward system (reward boards, reward cards and treasure chest). The sensory cues are placed in the surroundings of the children to trigger the use of the hand for daily life activities like opening doors and drawers, switching light switches, dressing activities, eating dinner, playing with blocks or other play activities. When the children receive the trigger they can immediately act upon it. After performing the action or activity the reflective reward will follow. The product parts can be used and combined in a variety of ways. A custom program of use can be set up to match the children’s abilities and personality. This program of use will be set-up by the therapists in consultation with the parents. Development steps are recommended to finalize the design and to optimize the use.

children
cerebral palsy
tactile cue
visual cue
trigger
reward

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:b364a649-17f8-4ce9-a845-aae52a61adab

Campus only

Student theses

master thesis

(c) 2011 Paulissen, R.T.